Serge Aubin showed leniency after beating EHC Red Bull Munich 4-3 in the first playoff final.
“You have to keep your foot on the accelerator, but we’ve let up a bit. The momentum has switched to Munich and it was difficult to get it back,” said the Eisbären Berlin coach. Despite the disappointment, the Canadian defended his team: “This is ice hockey. The players are human beings, not robots.”
The polar bears failed to ensure a perfect start to the final of the German Ice Hockey League (DEL) on Friday evening. The defending champion gambled away a three-goal lead. With a view to the second game of the best-of-five series on Sunday in Munich (3:15 p.m. / Magentasport and ServusTV), the polar bear coach is now hoping for learning effects from the opening defeat. “We will analyze the game, fix the mistakes and move on,” he said.
Hard workload
Aubin did not want to accept the fact that the Berliners had to play their second encounter within 24 hours, after having qualified for the finals the night before by beating the Adler Mannheim in the fifth semi-final. A four-minute time penalty against attacker Kevin Clark when the score was 3-0 in the second period was decisive for the turnaround in Munich’s favour.
In the Munich power play that followed, the flow of the game was repeatedly disrupted by two long video clips, among other things, and the guests finally scored their trend-setting first goal. “We lost focus on the game a bit because of all the interruptions,” said the Canadian.
Munich coach happy
National player Jonas Müller also saw no physical reasons for the defeat against Munich, who had already played their previous game on Sunday and had traveled to Berlin well rested. “I think everyone was fit. We were ready to step on the gas right from the start and then we scored the goals,” emphasized the 26-year-old defender. “It was only a short phase in which we were really unfocused. We lost the pucks too easily and didn’t get out of our own third. That was the reason.”
Munich’s coach Don Jackson, on the other hand, was overjoyed after his team’s successful race to catch up. “I’m proud of my players. It was a remarkable comeback. It was a bit crazy, I’m still a bit shocked,” he said. The 65-year-old American also tried to dampen the euphoria: “It was only one win out of three that was necessary. We’ll take that with us, but we’re still only thinking from game to game.”